McKenna\'s Birthday Jewelry Box

I’ve been collecting hardwoods from damaged or discarded tree trunks for the last 5 years…or more. This is the first project that I’ve made from this wood. It’s a simple box for my first grandchild’s 7th birthday. McKenna is her name. The wood top, bottom and drawer bottom are 1/4” maple. The sides are 1/4” linden…all stained with a brown stain I’ve had around for a long time. Then two coats of Danish Oil and two buffs with pastewax. The bottom and the drawer are lined with elk hide found at a garage sale…suede side up. I would have made wooden hinges for that’s for my next project…since this was my first real project…all others getting ready for this kind of project, I learned a lot in making and building this project…which included pinning the sides of the inner drawer with small wooden pegs I made by scraping and sanding thin strips of wood into the desired shape. The pegs and the splines are made from mystery wood…something I found made into a pallet. It’s something from the far east, but I don’t have a clue. It’s kinda redish…I thought it red oak for a while, but the grain is completely different. It’s all stained quite nicely…brass hinges and part of a jewelry chain found in Great-grandma’s costume jewelry…and while there are little mistakes here and there…I think my granddaughter will appreciate the fact her Grandpa Barry spent a month making this off and on taking time away from caring for her Great-grandmother Jean. “Nana” Jean is including a little something for the box. Shhhh, it’s a secret.

That’s fine work, Grandpa Barry!! She’ll appreciate it more and more as she grows older!I like the larger key that extends into the box to hold up the tray, good thinking! That Linden has got some great grain going on too… Really Nice Job!!

Yes, I made this for my grand-daughter…but it was a test also…I had the maple and I had the linden and I had not machined or worked with either of them. So, I made the box out of both. When I look at it after it’s finished, I do like the grain on the linden…and well, I wish I’d made the entire box of linden…however…it’s done now and the next item will be entirely of either maple or linden.

This is a nice box, Barry. I am sure that McKenna will enjoy it for years to come. You chose a nice wood combination as well. I have never seen linden before but it does have some interesting grain to it. I also like that the box was built from lumber that you rescued.

Nice job.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

BarryW,Very nice looking box! I’ve never seen linden before, interesting. I’m sure your grand/daughter will enjoy it. Coincidentaly my grand/daughters name is McKenna also! She’s only 3 1/2 and still on the rocking horse. I’ll have to show her this jewelry box tomorrow. I’ve never seen a kid so interested in everything I do. Does your McKenna like to help out in the shop also? Tell your McKenna, that we wish her a very happy birthday also!

All my grandchildren are hundreds of miles from their family here…my children are all raising their own families now and since I care for my 91 year old mother I never get to go see any of them…and they do come to visit but rarely. It’s probably a blessing for my children I’m far away…and why I need to work in wood…keeps me busy and out of their lives…

thank you for posting this i like the top spline as they are also a lip for the tray i will be using this idea in my next set of boxes will speed up the process a lot did you have aly issues making that big of a cut ?

Eddy, yes I did have issues….make certain you’ve got that box held down solid…I had a little wobble…that’s something I learned making this box…no wobble of any kind…clamp the work piece down so it can’t move at all.A learning process is no good without mistakes…I made the mistakes…now you learn from them. I did.